‘It scared me’: Chad Townsend collapses on plane to Vegas
“I jumped on the connecting flight and flew to Vegas. I’m fine now. I haven’t had much sleep. A lot of people have reached out, which is great.”
Townsend, who won a premiership with the Sharks in 2016 and spent three seasons at the Cowboys, planned to catch up with some of his former North Queensland teammates on Wednesday afternoon local time.
The 35-year-old had not been drinking on the flight.
“I don’t want to touch a drop of alcohol right now,” he said.
Dogs’ fans to march to Allegiant Stadium
Three of the Bulldogs’ club legends, James Graham, Terry Lamb, and Josh Reynolds, are expected to lead a club march from Mandalay Bay hotel to Allegiant Stadium this weekend, complete with a marching band.
Graham has Triple M commitments, but was keen to get there in time for the special occasion.
Matt Burton and the Bulldogs are preparing to face the Dragons.Credit: Getty Images
“The Bulldogs fans are very proud and very loud; they’re making Las Vegas their own,” Graham told us.
The Englishman spent three seasons with the Dogs’ rivals, St George Illawarra, but made it clear who he would be rooting for.
“I really enjoyed my time at the Dragons; it was fantastic, but I’m very much proud to be a Bulldog. I’m doing some stuff for the club, and I’m enjoying my time back at Canterbury,” Graham said.
One Dogs’ player who is sure to stand out this weekend is Viliame Kikau, who has grown back his trademark mohawk hairstyle and bleached it again.
Tough betting conditions
One of the reasons behind the NRL’s decision to take games to Las Vegas was to tap into the local sports betting market, but local punters are taking longer than expected to bet on rugby league.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said: “We’re confident we can get it going, but it’s taking a bit more time than we thought. Americans can still bet on rugby league. The biggest [online bookies] here are FanDuel and DraftKings, but they’re not holding much money on the games because they’re not promoting it as well as they should be.
“The Super Bowl just held $26 billion in turnover. If a fraction of that bet on the league, and I’d be happy.”
Australian NFL star Jordan Mailata.Credit: Getty Images
Mailata’s ritual performances
Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV played with NFL rivals the Philadelphia Eagles and loved his time with Australian teammate Jordan Mailata, who had a quirky pre-training ritual.
“Jordan is a man of many, many talents, and before practice, he would sit there and sing – and he has a voice,” Booker told us.
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“He would sing, if someone had a ukulele or guitar, they would do that before or after practice to set the right vibe. He was such a great dude.”
Mailata and his dulcet tones proved a hit on season seven of The Masked Singer in the US.
Beattie takes a dip
Spotted enjoying a morning swim at Resorts World in Las Vegas was former Queensland premier Peter Beattie. A former chairman of the ARL Commission, Beattie remains a commissioner and is in town, along with others commissioners including Megan Davis, Tony McGrath and, of course, Beattie’s successor as chair, Peter V’landys.
Also spotted having a morning dip were Bulldogs’ pair Jacob Kiraz and Bailey Hayward.